Nicholas Ray

[Scharphedin2]

Nicholas Ray (1911-1979)



There was theatre (Griffith), poetry (Murnau), painting (Rossellini), dance (Eisenstein), music (Renoir). Henceforward there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray. - Jean-Luc Godard

Filmography

Lightning Over Water (1980)
Marco (1978)
We Can't Go Home Again (1976)
Wet Dreams (1974) (segment "The Janitor")
55 Days at Peking (1963) Tohokushinsha Corp (R0)
King of Kings (1961) Warner (R1, R2, R3, R4)
The Savage Innocents (1960) MoC (R2)
"On Trial" (1 episode, 1959)
Party Girl (1958) Warner (R2)
Wind Across the Everglades (1958)
Bitter Victory (1957) Columbia (R1)
The True Story of Jesse James (1957) Fox (R1)
Bigger Than Life (1956) BFI (R2)
Hot Blood (1956) Sony (R2, R4, R5)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Warner (R1, R2, R3, R4)
Run for Cover (1955)
"General Electric Theater" (1 episode, 1954)
Johnny Guitar (1954) Paramount (R2)
Androcles and the Lion (1952) (uncredited)
The Lusty Men (1952)
Macao (1952) (uncredited) Warner (R1, R4)
On Dangerous Ground (1952) Warner (R1)
The Racket (1951) (uncredited)
Flying Leathernecks (1951) Warner (R1, R4)
Born to Be Bad (1950)
In a Lonely Place (1950) Columbia (R1, R2, R4, R5)
Roseanna McCoy (1949) (uncredited)
A Woman's Secret (1949) Éditions Montparnasse (R2)
Knock on Any Door (1949) Columbia (R2)
They Live by Night (1948) Warner (R1)


Forum Discussions

Nicholas Ray and Warner DVD

Nicholas Ray on DVD

The Savage Innocents


Web Resources

Overview by Jonathan Roenbaum

Finding the Father: A Psychoanalytic Study of Rebel Without a Cause

Shadows on the Horizon: In a Lonely Place

Nicholas Ray, a Sentimental Bloke

Compiled by: Gringo Tex

[Kinsayder]

Since it is my opinion that there can never be too much talk about Nicholas Ray, I thought I would open a dedicated thread. If for no other reason, at least this will offer a place to have his filmography and its DVD availability on hand.

The following filmography is taken from Geoff Andrew's book on Ray in the Letts Filmmakers series. (The list does not include such titles as Macao and The Racket, which Ray worked on without credit):


Sorry Wrong Number (1945, TV episode)

They Live By Night (1948) -- This title will be included in the forthcoming Film Noir, Vol. 4 from Warner Bros. However, for anyone unwilling to wait, the film is already available in a nice special edition from the French label Editions Montparnasse

A Woman's Secret (1949) -- In France, as part of the RKO collection from Editions Montparnasse

Knock On Any Door (1949) -- Released in Japan, as part of a Humphrey Bogart collection (detailed review at Beaver)

Born To Be Bad (1950)

In A Lonely Place (1950) -- A fine restoration of the film is available from Columbia in both R1 and R2

On Dangerous Ground (1951) -- Included in Warner's Film Noir, Vol. 3

Flying Leathernecks (1951)

The Lusty Men (1952)

The High Green Wall (1954, TV episode)

Johnny Guitar (1954) -- Universal released an edition in UK, but it is not great. The edition available in Germany is allegedly an improvement

Run For Cover (1955)

Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

Hot Blood (1956) -- Released in France by Columbia

Bigger Than Life (1956) -- A reasonably good edition (Derrière le miroir) is available from Carlotta in France. However, a release has long been rumored to be imminent from BFI

The True Story Of Jesse James (1957) -- Available from Fox in R1

Bitter Victory (1957) -- Available from Columbia

Wind Across The Everglades (1958)

Party Girl (1958) -- Warner Brothers released this (Traquenard) in France a couple of years back. The colors may not be absolutely perfect, but I am still cotent with this edition (until something more exciting comes along, of course)

The Savage Innocents (1960) -- Masters of Cinema gave the world a beautiful DVD of this, but it is now sadly taken off the market.

King Of Kings (1961)

55 Days At Peking (1963) -- Several editions available internationally. DVDBeaver has promoted the Japanese release heavily. (If anyone owns and can support Beaver in the praise, I would personally be interested to know)

We Can't Go Home Again – A Film By Us (1973-1976, uncompleted)

Marco (1978, short)

Lightning Over Water (Nick's Film) (1980-1981, co-directed with Wim Wenders) -- The Anchor Bay DVD is lightning compared to my old Laserdisc of this film. Incidentally, for anyone anxiously awaiting a release of The Lusty Men, this film includes a lengthy excerpt.



Titles in red are available on DVD. Rather than link to a long list of reviews, an index of reviews (with links) can be found here at DVD-basen. Most, if not all, available titles are reviewed with screen captures by DVDbeaver.

Both Born To Be Bad and The Lusty Men were available on LD. The Lusty Men is a very reasonable presentation of the film. Born To Be Bad is also OK (as far as I remember).

There are Spanish editions of several of these films. Of these, I have only seen Bigger than Life and A Woman's Secret. Bigger than Life looks identical to the French Carlotta release with the same slightly squashed aspect ratio (sampled by David Hare on this page), but with a choice of English or Spanish subtitles. A Woman's Secret is quite soft and grainy but still very watchable (the yellow Spanish subs are removable):

[Scharphedin2]

Thanks for the lovely still Kinsayder. This looks fine to my eyes... do you have any idea how it compares to the quality of the Editions Montparnasse edition (am placing a French order incl. this title tomorrow, so anxious to know if I should go for the Spanish edition instead)?

EDIT: Just looked at the link to DVDgo, and that is a pretty impressive line-up of Ray titles that they have available in Spain! It looks like they just released Johnny Guitar -- I wonder if it is better looking than the existing editions? And, the Samuel Bronston box (incl. El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, Circus World, King of Kings and Fall of the Roman Empire) for €24!! That is insane. Apparently this was only just released, and I can't help wondering if the transfers are up to par with the Japanese editions of these films? Anyone know?

[Kinsayder]

I haven't seen the Montparnasse A Woman's Secret, but I wasn't very impressed with their On Dangerous Ground (nor was DVD Beaver). I ought to add that the subs on the Spanish A Woman's Secret may not be removable on all players, as there's no menu option to do it. They can be removed by ripping, of course.

[Scharphedin2]

Hot Blood has been released by Columbia Pictures in France as L'Ardente gitane. Only... don't tell anyone, because I think they are kind of shy about it, so they did everything they could to disguise it as an RKO picture.

This is one of those "holy grail" films for me. It sounds absolutely gorgeous and wild! The story is about gypsies, and continues Ray's interest in outsiders and other (sub)cultures. It stars Cornel Wilde and Jane Russell, and although the cover would make you think that this is a small B&W picture, it was in fact shot in CinemaScope and Technicolor. I hope, I hope, I hope that the disc manages to come close to reproducing the glory, because Ray was obviously one of the real masters of color and the wide screen.

[GringoTex]

I hope, I hope, I hope that the disc manages to come close to reproducing the glory, because Ray was obviously one of the real masters of color and the wide screen.

I saw a gorgeous 35mm print of this about ten years ago, so the elements are in good shape.

[Scharphedin2]

Here is a French review of Hot Blood from the DVDRama webzine. The screen captures would seem to indicate that the image quality is about par with other Ray scope-color (Bigger Than Life and Party Girl) films that have been released in France.

[stephan73]

Hot Blood is coming to DVD in the UK!

[Kinsayder]

Wind Across The Everglades is available as a boot here. I haven't seen it or used the seller, so caveat emptor and all that.

[Scharphedin2]

Born To Be Bad has been announced for release in Spain on March 21st.

[Nothing]

Huh? Why has the MoC Savage Innocents been taken off the market?! I was wanting to get around to this eventually, having the Spanish disc, but the MoC looks far superior and contains extra footage... agh...

[MichaelB]

Huh? Why has the MoC Savage Innocents been taken off the market?! I was wanting to get around to this eventually, having the Spanish disc, but the MoC looks far superior and contains extra footage... agh...

A rights dispute - it was cheaper to take it off the market than risk a possibly ruinous lawsuit.

It's a real shame, as the replacement edition is apparently jaw-droppingly bad (pan-and-scan for starters).

That said, there are still a few copies of the MoC floating around - I picked one up myself in a bookshop in London not that long ago.

[Steven H]

The Columbia R2 Japan disc of Ray's Knock On Any Door is going to be available seperately from the rest of the box on April 4th (for about $24... much better than paying $140 or $150 for the set.) Here's the DVDBeaver review of the disc.

[devlinnn]

It's probably been reported elsewhere, but Bigger Than Life from the BFI has a listing up at Bensons for a July 30 release.

[My Man Godfrey]

Great thread! Thanks to Scharphedin and others for this info.

It's crazy that Johnny Guitar is still so damn hard to get a hold of. Who can we petition to get some R1 Nick Ray love?

Incidentally, I'd avoid "Lightning Over Water," even (or perhaps especially) if you're a hardcore Nick Ray fan. At risk of offending Wim Wenders fans (and I do like some of his work -- Tokyo-Ga, for instance): it's one of the worst films I've ever seen. It's like five different kinds of terrible movie (cancer tearjerker; film-school wallclimber; facile po-mo wankfest; 80s music video; snuff film) mashed into one improbable monstrosity. (Even the 30-minute university lecture included as an extra on the DVD is unwatchable.)

[malcolm1980]

In a Lonely Place is a masterpiece that deserves a first-class DVD treatment. Are there plans of that happening?

[souvenir]

In a Lonely Place is a masterpiece that deserves a first-class DVD treatment. Are there plans of that happening?

The R1 is pretty darn good. It's one of my favorite films and even I wouldn't complain about the existing edition.

[mikeohhh]

It's probably been reported elsewhere, but Bigger Than Life from the BFI has a listing up at Bensons for a July 30 release.

oh man, amazing news! thank you!!

[malcolm1980]

ADDENDUM: I think In a Lonely Place features Humphrey Bogart's career best performance.

[My Man Godfrey]

Agreed about In a Lonely Place. That's my favorite of the Nick Ray movies I've seen (though there are obviously quite a few I haven't been able to get my hands on).

[Ornette]

Scharphedin2, you can colour Born to Be Bad red, which has been released by Manga Films in Spain. Can be bought for €7,49 at dvdgo or $14,95 at Xploited Cinema.

Does anyone know how the quality is on this edition? And if anyone has seen the movie, I'd love to hear some comments!

[souvenir]

And if anyone has seen the movie, I'd love to hear some comments!

It's "woman gone bad" melodrama, but still pretty good, especially if you like Joan Fontaine.

[Ornette]

...especially if you like Joan Fontaine.

Which is the reason next to Ray that makes me want to see it.

[Kinsayder]

A sample from the Spanish Born to Be Bad. Image quality is soft and VHS-like throughout, no better than the other Spanish Rays I've seen:

[Ornette]

Thanks a lot Kinsayder! Seems servicable enough (didn't really expect more) -- at least I get to see it.